Residents take part in the wedding ceremony of dolls at Siddheswar temple in Balasore. Telegraph pictures

Balasore, May 17: Balasore turned into a grand wedding venue as hundreds of people assembled on Wednesday to witness the union between the two lacquer dolls — Uttara and Abhimanyu — named after mythological characters.

The tradition of conducting a wedding between lacquer dolls has entered its second year.

The initiative has been taken by a group of residents who are passionate about reviving, promoting and propagating the indigenous lacquer art.

“The name Uttara and Abhimanyu have a mythological connection and are characters of the Mahabharat, the great epic,” said Kesu Das, one of the members organising the event. “The symbolic names were chosen by our marriage committee,” he added.

According to the schedule, a colourful procession began from the residence of the bridegroom — the Town Hall. His baraat (wedding procession) was accompanied with lively music of traditional drums and other instruments and the bursting of crackers.

The bride and groom being taken around in a car

The local people who chose to be relatives of the groom were seen dancing with vigour. The procession reached the residence of the bride at Siddheswar temple in about two hours.

The wedding took place at the temple in Odia traditions. Members of the groom’s side, the bara yatris, enjoyed a lavish dinner.

“I was the brother of Uttara and accordingly my parents and I carried out all the rituals that are required in a typical Odia wedding,” said Bijayketan Biswal.

“We put in our best efforts required from the house of the bride to make the wedding as real as possible,” he said.

People from different parts of the country came together to witness the ceremony. For most of them, it was a once in a lifetime experience.

“After learning from one of my friends at Balasore about the dolls’ marriage I was drawn to the place. It was not only a unique one but also an unforgettable event,” said Mandar Mukherjee, reader of a college under Calcutta University.

“I am amazed to see the efforts put in by people here to revive aspects of culture that are getting lost. I would like to be part of this event in the coming years,” she said.

Now that the wedding ceremony has been completed in a grand way, the reception will be held at Town Hall on Saturday. During this period there would be cultural activities every evening, said well-known poet Brajanath Rath, president of the marriage committee.